Bad Combinations

 

Sometimes things just do not align and this past week feels like one of those times. After Maydaze I came home feeling pretty defeated. K’s trainer connected me with a trainer that she used to ride with though and we set up some time for lessons over the weekend. Annie and I need all the help we can get if we stand any chance of improving in order to have fun competing this summer.  Monday Annie had the day off, Tuesday I lunged her, she had flat rides the rest of the week due to bad weather. Finally on Saturday the footing was safe enough to try to school over fences. Not without some dirty legs on both of our parts! 

Annie was amazing and super game to the jumps. She jumped everything like a pro. We finished on the 2 stride that we set up and she jumped it so well. She was super adjustable and fair. 

After my jump school it was time to head to Brownland Farms for the Grand Prix. It was so fun to watch and get to hang out with riding friends at the show and watch all of the amazing horses. Also puppies. It is cruel and unusual for people to bring puppies to horse shows for unsuspecting people to oggle over. I have serious puppy fever right now :O

On Sunday I had my first lesson with veteran event trainer. It was both frustrating and exhilarating. We made a ton of progress and were able to get Annie started to understand connection and relaxation (simultaneously) by working on 10M circles and getting her to move off my leg. By getting her straight she ended up being more soft in the bridle by default. It was really nice to feel the horse that she has the potential to be with time.

RJ Classic Breeches FTW

Today another boarder and I were able to convince the event trainer to come out to the farm to teach us which was awesome sauce. Except that being sick and riding in the heat of the day on a belligerent 4 year old is not a recipe for success. Unfortunately Annie was not as interested in cooperating as she usually is. We had some lovely moments but when we went to the canter everything went to h*ll in a hand basket.

I had a really hard time riding well and felt like my body was rebelling against me. I know that being sick doesn’t help and that green horses aren’t always fun to ride but that didn’t stop me from getting a little down about the less than ideal ride right before the show. We have one more lesson before RG HT. This time we are hauling back over to trainer so that Annie can get in one last offsite jump school before the show.

Hopefully I will be able to breathe and function like a normal human by then! Sorry for the ramblefest… NyQuil brain!

8 comments

  1. Nicku says:

    It will get better, just keep focusing on positive experiences, confidence building and listening to your baby ginger. She’s still so so young!

  2. Kat says:

    Poor NyQuil brain, functioning is hard when breathing is a chore. We have s baby ginger mare at our barn, I’m pretty sure it’s inherent in them to have Big Opinion- Don’t Wanna days. You are smart and patient and doing it right by her, hang in there, one day sassy pants Annie will figure out its easier to go with the flow.

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